Boba - the next "Little Black Dress" in babywearing.

I wear my babies. I wear them because it keeps them from crying. It lets them nap. It keeps them close to me. (Not to mention that it increases their sense of security, future independence, etc etc...)  With Scarlett, I loved my ring slings and Serena & Lily Market slings.  With the hugeness that is Emmett I have found a love for the ErgoSport.  It sat in the closet and was used only on family outings when John would wear Scarlett.  But now that sucker is used throughout the day EVERY day.  Not only with Emmett, but with Scarlett now.  She loves to be "carried" around whenever Emmett is out of the Ergo.

I teach my Mommy-n-Me Bootcamp on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays... with 6-10 mamas (or more somedays) in attendance at each class, I was sure that the Ergo would make up the majority of the carriers. I was WRONG.  I mean, there are still a bunch of us with ergos (even the newer style); however, the new "black dress" of the baby carrier world seems to be the Boba!   I have several mamas sporting them to class. They are built similar to the ergo, but with foot straps for older kids, and a BUILT IN snap to convert the carrier to newborn size! (NO INSERT!)  I am in love!  John would kill me if I cam home with another baby item at them moment, but let's just say that my paypal money is being saved for "something" in the near future.  :)

The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012

As you know, I am a cloth diapering (OBSESSED) mama.  I love my stash. I love fluff on my babies' butts.  I love washing my fluff. I love line drying it. I love taking pictures of it on my babe's butt. I love repeating this cycle again and again.  I am slightly obsessed with the cuteness of the fluff.

I also love that so many other mamas (and dads!) are in the same boat ;)

I am calling on all other cloth diapering families to look up their local Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012 location.  It takes place on Earth Day (of course)  :) The goal is to break the world record and change as many cloth diapers as possible at the same moment.  I participated last year with Scarlett and am helping out with the Savannah location this year!

You may see a few "shout outs" on my blog over the next week.  These are in honor of those sponsoring our location for the Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012. Show them some love and visit their sites :)   

 Welcome to the world of having a boy!  We were blessed with our first busted lip last night.  Emmett is just 8 months old, and he is already trying to give us a run for our money.  He may be a cuddle bug, calm and patient, but he is also attempting to stand, walk on furniture and then let go as if he can continue to walk.  Have you seen the size of my son's legs? There is no way that this chunk is walking anywhere yet!  He was walking alongside of the golf cart last night while John was fishing and was enjoying a beer and a book... Scarlett was running around and Emmett thought he could join her. He turned, let go, and tried to get his sster, but instead he fell face first.  His tooth ht his lip and it was an instant blood bath.  I yelled for John and was throwing things into the cart for us to head home and really look at the cut. 

After a bath, John and I decided that a trip to the ER was not necessary.  And I must say that I am beyond proud of myself for not freaking out at all. I actually cannot believe how calm I was. 

I guess we can say that we have 'broken our son in' now. I'm sure there will be many more bumps, bruises, cuts, and blood in the future...


Back to the resolutions:

Monday we swam... and swam and swam... for 6 hours. Yes 6 hours. Scarlett was in the water for 5 of these hours.  Talk about a wrinkled raisin!  We spent the whole day with friends at the pool. Emmett napped twice in the stroller while we were there. We ate lunch, applied sunscreen, swam and lounged around.  It was a glorious day.

Tuesday's Resolution was to color together:

Scarlett decided to build a crayon fence instead :)

Wednesday's Resolution was to go fishing!    As you read above, we had an extreme ending to our fishing trip last night.  But before we were running around "saving the day!" as Scarlett said, we had a blast fishing. 

Thursday's Resolution (today) is to run a mile.  That's perfect seeing as how the mud run is on Saturday! 

Friday's Resolution (Tomorrow) is to eat ice-cream.   NO complaints about this one.

Saturday's Resolution is to get muddy on a date with my husband!!   (In other words - run a mud race with him!)

Ecover - I may place an order!

http://www.ecover.com

The above is the link to their international website.  I am slightly embarrassed to say that as a cloth diapering, semi-crunchy mama, I have not yet tried this product.  I have been told (over and over and OVER again) how amazing this laundry soap is.  The soap is said to not only keep diapers clean, but will keep them soft and prolong the lifespan of the actual diaper.  I will soon have my chance to indulge in a little ecover love!  They are the main sponsor for Savannah's Great Cloth Diaper Change event this year.  They have donated 100 bags with samples (and so many other wonderful gifts to raffle away).  I cannot wait to try my sample.  I have a feeling that I will be converting!

oh - the soap is not just for cloth diapers either.  It is for any and all laundry needs :)  Can you tell I'm excited to try it out?!
 

A Fun Week of Resolutions.

Wednesday's Resolution:  Host a Play Date

I called up a new friend we met at the oyster roast last weekend and invited her over.  She has a little boy Scarlett's age (who is definitely in love with my daughter - teehee)  We shared some wine, got to know one another, and ended up spending almost 4 hours hanging out!  I'm pretty sure we will be getting together again soon.

Thursday's Resolution:   Emmett gets a new diaper

I let John help me pick the fabric for Emmett.  He decided on a teal and lime green "groovy guitar" print!  I cannot wait for the fluffy mail to arrive!

Friday's Resolution:  Mix two recipes.

Since we were hosting a large cookout on Saturday, this resolution came in handy!  I decided to play it safe and mix my vanilla and chocolate cake batters together to make a marble cake for the party!  Let's just say that there are no leftovers sitting around today (Sunday).  

Saturday's Resolution:  Make Sangria

Again  - a great resolution to pull when there's a party starting!  Of course the party started at 3pm and the resolution was pulled around 1:45.  So we went running to the liquor store!  :)   No worries though... we pulled it off without a hitch. And we had margaritas (compliments of Ms. Emily) to ensure that fun would be had at the cookout!

Sunday's Resolution:   Yard Work

Booooooooooo..... After an entire afternoon and evening of sangria and margaritas, the last thing we anted to do was yard work.  :(   Oh well. You win some, you lose some!

Monday's (Tomorrow) Resolution:  Swim.

Back on the resolution bandwagon.

I've been lacking in my posts recently -- but, if you read my last "sleep" post, you understand why.  I'm a tired mama.

We had a cheaper version of happy hour at our house on Saturday!  And on Sunday, we celebrated Emmett really crawling.  Scarlett crawled on April fool's day two years ago... and here Emmett is following in her footsteps!  What a great thing to celebrate.  He has been moving for 2 weeks or so, but he actually can get to where he wants now.  So I count that celebration as a resolution.  But the resolution jar is back out and in full swing!

Monday's Resolution was to "plan a gathering."   And plan we did.  We are having 10-12 adults and 8-10 kids over on Saturday for smoked lamb and brisket.  (insert delicious scent here).  Yes we are still broke... but because we have amazing in-laws, who also love a good bbq, we are able to celebrate with everyone. (THANK YOU GUYS!!!)  I can't wait to post pictures of the fun that will be had here on Saturday.

Today's resolution:   "Always kiss goodnight"

Finding what works for us - A bedtime story.

Every family has different beliefs when it comes to bedtime.  Different rituals (or non-rituals) work for different families.  I am not here to judge your bedtime routine (or lack there of in our case) - unless of course you are letting your child cry-it-out, putting them to bed in a scary unsafe environment, or not trusting in your child's sleep needs.  Those are the areas in which, as a parent, YOU should not be number one - your child should be.

Here is our journey to a bedtime story (or lack there of a 'bedtime')

We own an Arm's Reach Co-sleeper and love it. Well, we think it's beautiful, and it fits so well next to the bed.  We brought home baby #1 (Scarlett) and decided that even the co-sleeper was too far away from us.  Our instincts said she needed to be closer.  So close, in fact, she slept on top of my chest the first 4 months of her life.  Hindsight is saying that this may have been the start to our sleep issues right here. But, I wouldn't have changed it. That's where she felt the safest, so that's where she slept. She started growing... and growing... eventually, I rolled her off of me into the middle of our bed, where she slept until 14-15 months old.  At that point, she was tossing and turning so much that we thought she would like her own space. We hit the nail on the head, as she slept through the night for the very first time ever when he was 15 months old.

If you have been following my blog, by now you know we are kind of "crunchy" as people call it...  Part of me says "WAHOO we are crunchy" and the other part says "WAHOOO we are LAZY."  I love extended nursing for all of the health benefits,  but let's not lie - it's flat out easier than bringing food with you (not to mention an excellent calorie burner for mom). We love cloth diapering - and yes there is washing involved, but we never have to run out and buy diapers.  I wear my babies everywhere - Hell, that's a no brainer - it's way easier to wear a baby than to carry a carseat or a wiggling baby/toddler...  Of course research plays a huge part into all of our decisions, and we are very aware of the things we do as a family to maintain the "crunchy" lifestyle.  (This ties into the blog post, I promise)

Co-sleeping and bed-sharing is EASY. It is easier than getting up and going to another room when baby is crying. It is easier to just lay down as a family and all fall asleep together.  However, it  is not just easy. It benefits the child in ways you would never imagine.  Waiting until a child is truly ready to sleep independently can lead to a more well-rounded child/teen/and adult.  Feeling safe, secure, and comfortable in a sleep setting raises self-esteem and self-confidence.  Stop reading right now if you saying, "My 6 day old, 6 week old, or 6 month old was ready to be on his own!"  - PLEASE....  just research infant sleep studies, brain development, and such. You'll have enough facts to make you change your mind with the next baby. And don't you dare bring any of the "Ferber method, cry-it-out sleep training" crap my way. I'll throw you facts until I'm blue in the face and you have a foot in your mouth.   ---   ok off the soap box.   ---    Not only did we love co-sleeping with Scarlett, but we loved the benefits she was receiving.

Now Scarlett is a VERY emotional child.  (Seriously, the world is ending if she drops her fork on the floor.)   We were not surprised when she wanted back into our bed most nights.  We welcomed her with open arms.  We also were not surprised that with the birth of Emmett, she wanted back in our bed full-time.  Again, we welcomed her.  How horrible for her to be in a bed (and room) all alone while the three of us slept together.  (Think about it, we spend our grown lives searching for a soulmate to share our lonely bed with each night - we never have liked sleeping alone.  There's a certain comfort in knowing someone you love is sleeping next to you.)  Needless to say, almost 8 months later, we have no sleep schedule, four in a bed, tossing, turning, and crawling everywhere.  We seem to go through phases where everyone sleeps fine and other times where no one is sleeping well.  This is a "SLEEPING SUCKS" phase right now.  We resorted to playing videos for Scarlett around 9/10pm in her room in hopes she would fall asleep for a few hours before coming into our rooms. That way we would have some adult time.  Well, that worked for about 3 weeks.  Then she just watched her movie and came out just as awake as ever.  She still flips, turns, kicks, and talks in her sleep; and Emmett is now rolling and crawling in his sleep. If only we could record one night in our bed to playback to the world.  Emmett has also cut 4 teeth in two weeks.  He is nursing every hour at night.  Between Scarlett waking him up, Emmett nursing, not getting comfortable, I a NOT sleeping.

So why not put her to bed earlier you ask?  Well, Scarlett goes until she crashes.  Her nap (if there is a nap) consists of playing until she falls asleep in her dollhouse, on the floor, in the car, on a table, etc... You cannot get her to lay down any other way.  I have tried.  (Literally just tried yesterday - it took 1.5 hours and all three of us the bed before we all fell asleep together)  And when there is a nap, she stays up until midnight!  The Sleep God has been laughing at us lately. 

I refuse to EVER make a child of mine sleep alone, or in a setting in which he/she is not comfortable, until that setting becomes comfortable and the child is ready to be alone.  John and I are hoping that once Emmett hits a year old, we can set up a big mattress on the floor in one of their rooms, and they will sleep together.  ("Hope" being the key word there.)  I am not ready to be done co-sleeping with Emmett at all, as he nurses throughout the whole night still.  (And his snuggles just melt my heart.)  And there is still a small part of me that loves Scarlett in our bed.  The mama bear in me says, "ALL babies must be with me so that I can KILL someone if they walk into this room in the middle of the night."

We have tried 2 nights with the mattress on our floor for Scarlett, but the problem lies in the act of bringing the mattress in and out.  She will start in her room and then come in to ours. But the mattress buys us a few more hours before she crawls into our bed.  However, I still do not sleep. 

I know that this to shall pass. I know that it is just a phase and we will adapt and grow from it. I also know that according to all of the research out there, that it is NOT easy at times to stay true to the parenting style you have developed and made your own.  I guess I'm just throwing it out there so that others with a child (or children) in their bed can relate, laugh, make fun of us, or just vent with me.  I love having my babies (and my husband) so close at night.  I would however like a little sleep tonight. :)


There's our bedtime story... or lack there of one.  As John says, "We need to move at least one baby out of the bed (at least to the floor) before we can have another."

Do I have any advice for those becoming a family soon?  Yes. Follow your gut. Listen to your heart.  Read the research.  And then co-sleep safely.  I still wouldn't change a thing we have done so far.